Trione-Annadel State Park 6201 Channel Drive Santa Rosa, CA 95409 (707) 539-3911
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Our Mission The mission of California State Parks is tart in a cool, shaded to provide for the health, inspiration and S Trione-Annadel education of the people of California by helping to preserve the state’s extraordinary biological forest—move through State Park diversity, protecting its most valued natural and cultural resources, and creating opportunities mixed oak to expansive for high-quality outdoor recreation. open meadows and around a refreshing 26-acre lake through tangled chaparral— then return to the deep California State Parks supports equal access. Prior to arrival, visitors with disabilities who forest coolness. need assistance should contact the park at (707) 539-3911. If you need this publication in an alternate format, contact [email protected]. CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS P.O. Box 942896 Sacramento, CA 94296-0001 For information call: (800) 777-0369 (916) 653-6995, outside the U.S. 711, TTY relay service www.parks.ca.gov Trione-Annadel State Park 6201 Channel Drive Santa Rosa, CA 95409 (707) 539-3911 © 2003 California State Parks (Rev. 2018) T rione-Annadel State Park sits in Pomo went to nearby Mission San as well as in their reconstruction after the the historic Valley of the Moon, an area Francisco Solano, were forced into 1906 earthquake. However, cobblestone popularized by author Jack London. This involuntary servitude, or were moved roads were not suitable for motor peaceful, unspoiled park is 60 miles north of onto reservations. vehicles, and by the 1920s, demand for San Francisco on the eastern edge of Santa Although the Pomo resisted these them had significantly declined. Rosa. The park has more than 5,500 acres drastic changes to their way of life, many In the 1930s, entrepreneur Joe Coney of rolling hills, seasonal streams, meadows, succumbed to overwork and to European bought 3,200 acres of oak woodlands near and woodlands free from modern intrusions. diseases to which they had no resistance. Santa Rosa from Irish immigrant Samuel Summers are hot and dry, with With the arrival of Europeans, cattle Hutchinson. Hutchinson had named temperatures reaching into the 90s and ranching and farming gradually replaced his ranch by combining the name of his evening lows near 50 degrees. At times the native pattern of hunting and gathering. daughter, Annie, with “dell” (a small, during the summer, coastal fog penetrates By 1837 this area had become part of Los secluded, wooded valley). Under the inland, providing cool evenings. Most Guilicos Rancho, a Mexican land grant Coneys’ ownership, it became known of the area’s 30 inches of rain occurs covering about 19,000 acres. Eleven years as the “Annadel Farm.” Coney built a from November to April. Wintertime low later, the property was acquired by hunting and fishing retreat for his friends. temperatures can drop to the mid-20s with William Hood, who came here from his He stocked the property with game daytime highs in the 50s or 60s. native Scotland. birds and filled his man-made lake, Lake In the late 1800s, sheep and cattle grazing Ilsanjo (built in the mid-1950s and named PARK HISTORY gave way to the quarrying of cobblestones. for the Coney couple, Ilse and Joe), with For thousands of years, the Southern This was the major source of income for the black bass and other fish. When his Pomo lived near what is now the park. No Wymore and Hutchinson families, the area’s fortunes began to diminish in the 1960s, permanent village sites have been found in principal landowners, until the early 1900s. Joe Coney decided to sell the ranch. the park, but these lands were important as Cobblestones were used in the building of Santa Rosan Henry Trione, a successful trading grounds and as a source of obsidian, San Francisco and other West Coast cities, mortgage banker and property developer, a volcanic rock that was traded with other tribes, who would work it into scrapers, knives, arrow points, and spearheads. In the early 1800s, Russian and Aleutian fur trappers arrived in the area to establish Fort Ross, now a state historic park. They found the Pomo willing traders and hard workers. The Fort Ross settlers may have been among the Pomo’s first contact with non-Native People. Gold Rush miners and settlers who wanted the Pomo lands arrived after 1848, Ledson Marsh bringing disease and violence. Surviving had special interest in the preservation NATURAL HISTORY Cobblestone Trail — This narrow, two-mile of open space and wetlands. As a Trione-Annadel’s terrain consists of a diverse trail beginning at the auxiliary parking area result, he and his business partner, range of plant communities, including on Channel Drive is rocky on the bottom- Joseph Long, started the California meadows, grasslands, forests, and chaparral third, then flattens as it nears the boundary State Parks Foundation. Seeking to areas. Environmental conditions favor the of the park. Farther along this route is the save the Annadel wilderness area from development of these varied habitats, Wymore Quarry. At one time, a gravity- imminent development, Trione purchased making it possible to view a wide variety of powered, narrow-gauge tramway transported neighboring properties and gave more birds and animals during a visit. Deer are the cobblestones produced at the quarry than $1 million of his own money to commonly seen around sunset, and coyotes to a small-gauge railroad line, which is preserve the 5,000 acres as a state park. are among the many species of wildlife here. now Channel Drive. The stones were then With his help, along with fund-raising transported to San Francisco and Sacramento, from the local community, California State RECREATION where some of the oldest streets are still Parks acquired Annadel in 1971, making it Hikers, equestrians, mountain bicyclists, paved in cobblestones. The trail ends at a state park in 1974. The California State runners, and nature-lovers can choose Rough-Go Trail. Legislature adopted a Senate resolution among 40-plus miles of trails. Elevation gains Spring Creek Trail — There are two access requesting the park be renamed in and degree of difficulty vary with each trail. points to this trail; one is the service road Trione’s honor in 2015. California State from Spring Lake’s horse-trailer parking area, TRAILS Parks renamed the park Trione-Annadel and the other is from Santa Rosa’s Vietnam State Park in 2016. Warren Richardson Trail (fire road) — Veterans Trail. This trail is completely shaded This trail, commemorating a prominent by alders, redwoods, and arching bay trees cattle rancher and hop grower, begins at the that grow along the creek canyon, making this parking lot at the end of Channel Drive and one of the most pleasant trails in the park on goes uphill through a forest of Douglas-fir, a hot summer day. The trail begins with an bay, and redwood trees. Parts of the trail are increase in elevation and ends at the lake. home to pileated woodpeckers and pygmy Canyon Trail (fire road) — This two-mile owls. In the spring, keep an eye out for trail begins at the intersection of Spring calypso (fairy slipper) orchids between the Creek Trail near a wooden bridge. The trail’s junctions with Two Quarry and Steve’s “S” elevation increases steadily. At the top, Trails. At the 900-foot elevation, the forest discover a panoramic view of Santa Rosa, the gives way to open meadows and mixed Mayacamas Mountains with the Geysers, and oak woodlands, and you will get your first Mount Saint Helena. Colorful Indian warriors glimpse of Lake Ilsanjo when you intersect plants bloom from March the North Burma Trail. The walk generally through May at the Marsh takes an hour to cover the two-and-a-half Trail intersection. Canyon miles to the lake. Trail ends at the lake after Picnic tables are scattered along the passing by Hunter Spring, shoreline. Circle the lake and return via where a horse-watering trough California Steve’s “S” Trail to make a six-mile loop. Warren Richardson Trail is located. red-legged frog mixed forests. In the large area of obsidian chips, which was vernal pool near the an important resource for the native Live Oak Trail area, Pomo. (Please do not collect minerals or look for tiny, very rare, other finds.) white fritillary flowers Channel Trail — This trail starts just past blooming from March the visitor center on Channel Drive and through May. The ends at the main parking lot. About three- trail borders several fourths of the way on the trail, hikers must meadows and ends at exit the trail and go along the asphalt the Warren Richardson Channel Drive for a very short distance Trail, where there is before returning to the dirt trail. This a wonderful view of area was one of many quarry sites in Lake Ilsanjo. Trione-Annadel. Mayacamas Mountains in the distance Rough-Go Trail — Try it to see how this OTHER FEATURES Marsh Trail — This trail climbs steadily steep, rough path earned its name. The trail has Lake Ilsanjo — This man-made, 26-acre from its beginning at the intersection with full southwestern exposure as it switchbacks past lake is not stocked, but bluegill and Canyon Trail. Marsh Trail skirts the rocks, boulders, and grassland meadows on the largemouth bass live here. All anglers 16 northern flank of Bennett Mountain. way to the lake. years of age or older must carry a valid Higher elevations provide views of Lake Lawndale Trail — The trail begins at the eastern California fishing license. For fishing Ilsanjo and the Mayacamas Mountains. end of the park off Lawndale Road from Highway regulations, visit www.wildlife.ca.gov.